If you could, would you?

[o'dubhlaoich]

Travel back in time and talk Vince out of his "This is entertainment." announcement? Would you stop him from pealing the curtain back on the inner workings of wrestling? Would you stop him from killing kayfabe?

 

[Frank23]

 

[deezy]

Fuck no.

Kayfabe was retarded to begin with, it made the fans look stupid to outsiders, kept a shade of con artistry over everyone who did this and was just insulting to anyone with common sense.

It's not real, if they kept it 100 in the early days, maybe we wouldn't still have to hear morons reminding us this is fake.

 

[King Bastar]

 

[VulcanNervPinch]

Travel back in time and talk Vince out of his "This is entertainment." announcement? Would you stop him from pealing the curtain back on the inner workings of wrestling? Would you stop him from killing kayfabe?

Largely irrelevant.

Maintaining kayfabe in the age of Internet and cell phone video uploads simply isn't possible.

If they hadn't done it, it would have been done for them. And they wouldn't be getting the regulatory benefits, either, if they were still pretending.

 

[lakersfan45]

Fuck no.

Kayfabe was retarded to begin with, it made the fans look stupid to outsiders, kept a shade of con artistry over everyone who did this and was just insulting to anyone with common sense.

It's not real, if they kept it 100 in the early days, maybe we wouldn't still have to hear morons reminding us this is fake.

Rock clapping gif

 

[Jesus Freak]

Travel back in time and talk Vince out of his "This is entertainment." announcement? Would you stop him from pealing the curtain back on the inner workings of wrestling? Would you stop him from killing kayfabe?

I'd go back and somehow prevent the invention of the internet.

It's killed the suspense of pro wrestling like nothing else!

 

[Jesus Freak]

"The UFC is now the most successful pro wrestling promotion on the planet."

This was too funny! And not because it isn't true to some degree!

 

[Stargazer Rex]

No, Vince knows more about Pro Wrestling than I do.

Plus he won the war, to the victor go the spoils. He can do what he wants with his company.

 

[sleepwalk]

It's a mixed bag, really.

Corny may be right that the overall money draw is lower now (unconvinced) but the industry, as a whole, has been legitimized in a lot of ways, making it socially acceptable to display merchandise that brings in a pretty penny.

Pro wrestlers used to have to hope for a spot as a "heavy" on a western or action film. Now they have speaking parts where they get to lose fights to Vin Diesel or fail to bring Amy Schumer to orgasm.

On the other hand, the announcement brought on the monopoly (although the flow chart is pretty well filled for that.) Guys used to be able to leave a territory and draw in another. Now, you're in or you're not (and possibly living hand to mouth regardless.)

 

[Michaelangelo]

in 91 he announced it was fake to avoid the sports commissions fees

business went up

97 then he did the sports entertainment disclosure

business went up

if he didn't do what he did they would have been crushed

only kids from third world countries thought it was real

 

[deezy]

Cornette thinking an armory isn't the same thing as a high-school gym he uses to bury indie shows where they work a style he hates.

His opinion is as relevant as an old person telling you the old days were better.

 

[Burning Hammer]

Fuck no.

Kayfabe was retarded to begin with, it made the fans look stupid to outsiders, kept a shade of con artistry over everyone who did this and was just insulting to anyone with common sense.

It's not real, if they kept it 100 in the early days, maybe we wouldn't still have to hear morons reminding us this is fake.

Fans look stupid to outsiders and everyone knew pro wrestling was a work anyways.

 

[deezy]

Fans look stupid to outsiders and everyone knew pro wrestling was a work anyways.

Which is why trying to keep the charade going was so stupid in the first place

 

[Burning Hammer]

Which is why trying to keep the charade going was so stupid in the first place

It changed nothing

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

It's a complicated situation. If pro wresting, and the WWE specifically, would move to a single location filming method where backstage/storyline portions were filmed like TV shows then I would say to hell with kayfabe for ever. So it would just be a sports themed drama.

If we insist on keeping the current format of a touring sports league in a different city each show then I would like to see a better attempt at keeping kayfabe.

however I would prefer the first.

 

[deezy]

It changed nothing

They're on sportscetre.

Sure wasnt going to be like that protecting kayfabe

 

[Burning Hammer]

They're on sportscetre.

Sure wasnt going to be like that protecting kayfabe

It hasn't mattered seeing as ratings continued to drop.

 

[deezy]

It hasn't mattered seeing as ratings continued to drop.

And yet they're revenue continie to grows.

Ratings don't mean as much as it did when there was 3 networks. Get with the times. Biggest show on TV today isn't shit compared to the ratings of the 90s.

Everything is niche now.

 

[Count Zero]

Kayfabe had been dead for a long time ... just I think in the 70s/80s there wound up being a new generation of people who were - for various reasons - very keen on suspending their disbelief.